For the second consecutive year the Sacred Heart Saints senior boys鈥� basketball team saw their season come to an end at the SHSAA 4A Regional competition in Moose Jaw.
鈥淲e knew it was going to be tough to advance, but we felt we had a chance,鈥� Saints head coach Garrett Karcha told Yorkton This Week after his team鈥檚 final game of the campaign 鈥� an 84-61 defeat at the hands of the seventh seeded Saskatoon 鈥� Bedford Road Redhawks. 鈥淲e knew they were going to be a strong team because they had beat Holy Cross at BRIT earlier in the year, but I thought we matched up well with them.鈥�
The tenth ranked Saints went toe-to-toe with the favoured Redhawks early on, thanks in large part to senior guard Jake Javier, who sunk all four of his three-pointers in the first half and finished with a team-high 20 points. 鈥淛ake kept us in it and we were going blow for blow with them early on,鈥� mentioned Karcha. 鈥淥ur shooting was keeping us in it early but every time we would make a three they would come down and make a three because they were a good shooting team, so we were kind of trading back and forth.鈥�
Eventually however, the Saints began to falter as the Redhawks鈥� depth came in to play. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a good, all-around team and they had really good depth that we had a hard time matching,鈥� mentioned the Saints鈥� head coach, adding that once fatigue started setting in turnovers and poor execution came to the forefront. 鈥淚n the third quarter we had it to within nine points at one point and we just had a heck of a time with turnovers at times and not finishing layups on fast breaks and passing the ball ahead just a little too far and in the end that鈥檚 what hurt us.鈥�
The aforementioned Javier led the Saints with 20 points and three steals while fellow grade 12 player Brody Kormos had a team-high 13 rebounds to go with seven points.
Grade 11 offensive star Noah Clarke scored 12 points and hauled in six rebounds for the Saints, who now say goodbye to six senior players who will be graduating in the summer. 鈥淭he grade 12鈥檚 really kept the team together this year and everyone was showing up to practices because of that and we鈥檙e going to miss that,鈥� said Karcha, continuing, 鈥淪ome of those guys have been with me since grade 10 and with the Saints program since grade nine, so it鈥檚 always going to be tough to see them go.鈥�
Karcha said that Javier and Kormos in particular will be hard to replace next year. 鈥淏rody (Kormos) just plays with his heart and soul every sing game and that鈥檚 going to be missed, and losing Jake Javier and his scoring and his quiet leadership is tough, too.鈥�
The departure of role players Cody Doll, Kade Johnson, Bryan Buzinski and Zach Sutian will also be tough for Karcha, however the Saints鈥� head coach feels that the team should be strong next year with the return of leading scorer Noah Clarke and the continued development of Grady Hawkins and CJ Gimena. 鈥淭here were a few times where I put together what I assume would be my lineup for next season and so going forward I think we鈥檒l be okay,鈥� mentioned Karcha. 鈥淎s long as these guys continue to grow and develop and have passion for the game then I think we鈥檒l be fine.鈥�
